Serie A newcomers Palermo, Empoli and Cesena, along with Cagliari, Chievo, Verona and Sassuolo, all have the potential to do well in Serie A next season even though their chief objective should be to keep their heads above water.
If they succeed in putting points on the board early on, as happened with Verona last season, the underdogs could also aspire for higher ambitions as the campaign proceeds.
This summer, Verona lost the services of two of their best players – Juan Iturbe (joined Roma) and Romulo (signed for Juventus). Surely, it will be difficult for coach Andrea Mandorlini to find suitable replacements for the two attacking midfielders, both instrumental in helping Verona finish 10th last season.
Mandorlini’s main acquisitions in this close season were Guillermo Rodriguez (Torino), Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Genoa), Anderson Miguel Nene (Cagliari), Ivan Martic (San Gallo) and Lazaros Christodou-lopoulos (Bologna).
Yesterday, reports said Verona had also acquired the services of seasoned Mexico defender Rafa Marquez.
Verona’s aspirations for 2014-15 will depend on two factors mainly.
First, Mandorlini will be keeping his fingers crossed that Luca Toni, 37, will not lose his scoring touch.
Last season, the veteran striker netted 20 goals and he was also close to be included in Italy’s squad for the World Cup finals.
Second, the brilliant 2013-14 campaign should represent a departure point for Verona.
If the club falls into complacency Verona will seriously risk getting embroiled in the tussle to avoid the dreaded drop.
Cagliari will have to forget all about the previous season during which they only made sure of safety in the last few weeks, finishing just seven points clear of the red zone.
Last month, Massimo Cellino, who had purchased Cagliari in 1992, sold all his shares in the club to an Italian company, Fluorsid Group, for a reported €45m.
Cellino had been looking to part with Cagliari ever since he acquired a 75 per cent stake in former English champions Leeds United last spring.
The new Cagliari owners moved swiftly to convince Zdenek Zeman to take over at Cagliari. The ex-Lazio and Roma mentor is the ideal man to help the team stay away from the troubled area of the standings while developing relatively unknown youngsters into quality players.
Two years ago, Zeman, besides helping Pescara become Serie B champions, launched the careers of Ciro Immobile (Borussia Dortmund), Marco Verratti (Paris SG) and Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli).
This summer, Cagliari have lost the services of goalkeeper Vladimir Avramov (Torino), defender Davide Astori (Roma) and Nene but in return they signed a few promising players among whom goalkeeper Simone Colombi (Atalanta) and striker Alessandro Capello (Bologna).
Chievo and Sassuolo both avoided relegation by a whisker last May.
Chievo have been particularly busy on the transfer market this summer, practically overhauling their squad.
While keeping faith with coach Eugenio Corini, they have signed Maxi Lopez (Catania), Francesco Bardi (Inter), Riccardo Meggiorini, Nicola Bellomo (both Torino), Valter Birsa (Milan), Alessandro Gamberini (Genoa), Cristiano Biraghi and Mariano Izco (both Catania).
Sassuolo, still under the charge of Eusebio Di Francesco, remained practically unchanged though with Sime Vrsaljko (Genoa) and Federico Peluso (Juventus) being their only two major signings.
Once again, Sassuolo’s chances of staying up will hinge on the scoring instincts of their two main strikers – Domenico Berardi and Simone Zaza.
Palermo’s return
Palermo dominated Serie B last season and they seem to be the most equipped side of the three newcomers to retain their status in the top flight.
Giuseppe Iachini is still the man in charge at the Sicily club who only added ex-Chievo midfielder Luca Rigoni so far to their squad.
Maurizio Sarri’s Empoli, runners-up to Palermo last season, have kept faith in the players that helped the club return to the top flight after a six-year absence.
Cesena were promoted after beating Latina 4-2 on aggregate in the two-legged play-off in June.
Their achievement was indeed remarkable considering the financial difficulties the club has had to deal with.
Last season, most of Cesena’s players were loanees from other clubs.
A place in Serie A means Cesena’s second promotion to the top division in four years, following the one of 2009/10.
As happened four years ago, coach Pierpaolo Bisoli was the mastermind behind Cesena’s elevation to the top tier of the Italian game.